Stimulant-not making sense how it works?? | ADHD Information

I am new to this ADD/ADHD thing.  I have been taking paxil for about 7 years for OCD and anxiety.   Just recently I started to investigate this ADD thing and really think I have it and probably have since childhood. 

I hear most of the ADD/ADHD medication is a form of a stimulant.  Aren't most ADD/ADHD people experiencing anxiety??  How does a stimulant work on this problem, isn't there more anxiety?? That is what I am afraid of, but there are times I feel I need the buzz just to wake me up enough to push me to do things but not the anxiety part.

I am hearing wellbutrin helps the ADD/ADHD part, so I am thinking about switching from paxil to that but it makes me nervous thinking about the stimulant effect. 

Stimulants work opposite on ADD or ADHD than on non-ADHers it helps them focus and slow down.  A good example same goes for caffeine I could drink a cup of coffee at night and be up  and my child who has adhd has a cup (very rare occasion) it will calm her down and put her to sleep.  I tried to explain this the best I could but it is what I do know..IMac38947.4049074074

jlady,

I am diagnosed ADHD with comorbid anxiety disorder.

I take an extended release form of ritalin.  For my case, my anxiety was more caused by the ADHD, so when the symptoms of ADHD were reduced so did the anxiety.   When the anxiety is seperate from the ADHD, its most likely  more of an issue when taking stimulants.

When I am on stimulants, I am calm and even tempered.  I used to have a lot of emotional outbursts, they are all gone.

The best thing that I can tell you is to be tested thoroughly by a mental health professional. Rule out anything that might mimc ADHD. Then be completely honest about the anxiety issues and your concerns about any medical or behavioural treatment. 

From what I have learned thus far, ADHD rarely travels alone.   It is usually accompanied by depression, anxiety , ODD, and/or  even some learning disabilities.

Good luck

Sherry

jlady,

One theory holds that stimulants work on the AD/HD brain the way SSRIs work on the depressed brain.  That is, psychostimulants work to facilitate the transmission of the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine.  The effect is to balance the brain's chemical workings while the stimulant is active, providing a calming effect on the ADDers mind.  They can have physical side effects, including increased anxiety symptoms.  I had to stop Adderall XR this week (hopefully temporarilly) because I couldn't take the stress of exams and learning to cope with attention problems at the same time. 

My impression was that Wellbutron is thought to affect both serotonin (depression) and dopamine (inattention) reuptake, and thus might be effective in treating AD/HD symptoms when comorbid with other psychiatric ailments.  I'm not sure of the neurological roots of anxiety, but will look around.

Remember, everyone is different, what works for one may not for another. I personally cannot take Wellbutron because it induces extreme bipolar like mood swings in me.

I've been tried on Effexor and Paxil also, both with much greater negitive effects than positive.


I'm taking Concerta now for ADD, I was diagnosed when I was about 7 and was on Ritilin as a child into puberty but stopped taking it at age 13. I have to say that the stimulant has helped. I too have anxiety allong with my ADD, or more to the point due to the ADD. Because I forget to do things, to balance my checking account, to check my email, to finish this detail or that detail of a project at work or school I end up under a great amount of stress and anxiety as a result of the insuing chaos.

What the stimulant does is counter intuitive in an ADD person, with it I check twice, think before I speak, check my account balance before spending, follow up with colegues on project details at work, and I'm not screaming at people in traffic anymore either.

It took a long time for my Dr. to come back to the ADD issue, in fact I've tried to avoid and/or deny it most of my life but now it's all to clear that ADD is a life long battle. There are ways to control it by modifiing behavior and doing mental excercises but for me, I put so much on my plate that stuff started falling off the sides and had to go back on meds.

Concerta is not what I would call perfect, and I'm going to ask my Dr. about Adderall or Dexidrine next week because I've read about people her ehaving good results with it with less of a side effect array than Concerta, but I may end up back with concerta if I experience too many negitives with the others.

I guess my advice would be to know your body, and your mind. Monitor how a med effects you and take notes so you can talk to your Dr. with as much information as possible in hand.     I have been treated for OCD and ADD/ADHD since I was 13, and am on Adderall and Luvox.  At 25, I can say I do feel overly anxious, but if you feel that it is really a problem, talk to your doctor about lowering your dosage or cut your pill in half and take half in the morning and half in the mid afternoon.  This helps me out.ritalin will kill you.  paxil is no better.  both cause damage.  search it out,,,but good.....and long....find the truths, they're out there, and they are not on your labels!.IMac38947.4051851852

[QUOTE=Binformed]ritalin will kill you.  paxil is no better.  both cause damage.  search it out,,,but good.....and long....find the truths, they're out there, and they are not on your labels![/QUOTE]

not taking your lithium has caused some damage hasn't it?

ritalin doesn't kill.  paxil doesn't either.  They have their faults but so does aspirin.

Saying something kills when the people here know better - they do read newspapers and watch the news you know - makes your arguments moot.  They see you as you truly are - a toothless tiger roaring about the forum trying desparately to scare everyone.

Does ritalindeath.com pay you by the slanderous statement or do you do it by the hour?

Tom Cruise called from his closet - he wants his crazy ideas back.

Awesome post kozmik

jlady,

Many times anxiety occurs for those who have Adhd gone untreated as the struggles in life become overwhelming. Adhd medications reduce the anxiety factor for those who have anxiety induced by Adhd because when the medication is truly effective, life in general becomes much more managable.

Ok, I'm new but I hate all these psychos who are always talking trash about medicine without actually backing it up. One of them says "ethylene...benzene...think about it" the other one says "the truth is out there, MAN!!"

seriously folks, WTF?

I go to an ivy league school, I'm a senior in the biomedical engineering department, cell and tissue engineering division. I've had 4 years of chemistry, mathematics, biology and quantitative physiology, electrical engineering, genetics and I've also taken courses in MEDICAL ETHICS and PHILOSOPHY, so I'm not a complete idiot.
yes, I have been diagnosed with ADHD, and have taken Adderall for a year, 20mg twice a day. I'll tell you what i think about stimulants when you read this first.

The effect of a stimulant is to increase the production of dopamine in the substantia nigra, a place in the brain where dopaminergic neurons exist. The brain circuitry however directs alot of activity to the frontal cortex (neurons are like wirings, if you induce response in a group and they're wired to another group, they will transmit this stimulus--it's called an action potential). The frontal cortex is associated with attention deficit, completion of tasks and emotional control.

Unlike "selective...blah" medications, a stimulant is not inhibitor or antagonist, but it's rather an agonist. A stimulant is an adrenergic receptor agonist--opens the receptor to these molecules more frequently or for longer time. That's why the combined effects of amphetamines is similar to an adrenaline response--low blood to the stomach/intestinal tract, more blood to the skin and muscles, increased heart rate, focus and control of emotions (it's the "fight or flight" instinct, if you want to know more search in Wikipedia for "sympathetic nervous system", for "adrenal gland" and for "adrenergic response").

That's the reason why adderall/ritalin have side effects that can be nocive AT HIGH DOSES! Doctors do dispense this ish out like it's candy, and people do pop it at ridiculous doses which are neither therapeutic nor healthy!

The reason why "RITALIN KILLS" is not because of "CRAZY BENZENE CANCER" warnings. Benzene is simply a 6 carbon ring, and there's a freaking benzene ring in just about everything. I work at a major cancer center in the US, if not THE biggest, in research regarding leukemias/blood disorders/aplastic anemias.

Ladies and gentlement, just about everything causes cancer. Just about everything can kill you. Ritalin and Amphetamines are not child's play drugs, they're very dangerous if misused. I am always afraid of misusing them. I'm 21, and I've been cautiously observing my behavior so that I don't find myself hooked onto anything or suffer from longtime damage on anything.

I've been on adderall for a year and it's really helped me focus, calm down (I used to be really anxious, but it's a hyperstimuli response) and feel more in control of my emotions and my life. It's not a life-changing drug, no drug is. I have emigrated twice in my life and I watched my brother go craz and die at 10 years of age (I was 15) due to a genetic disease. I went through deep dark depression and none of the antidepressants worked, and life still went for the best. As I said, I'm in a top school and I'm as healthy as anyone else, and as succesfull, ADHD or not.

I do think adderall/ritalin are helpful to concentrate and feel more in control, but they're not the solution. it takes personal drive to get better and feel better, and survive the world outside.

They do not "kill", there's no "conspiracy", etc. I will rephrase that, everything kills, including all these pills. but if you are careful about what you're doing, if you learn what they do to you and the good and the bad, then you can use them as a beneficial aid in your life...not a crutch.

I've been reading these newsgroups for a while now (a couple months) but I had never answered. These ignorant and underinformed posts just made me get in and respond!

I know that some people have lost sons and daughters to mis-diagnosis of ADD/ADHD and to over-dosing in the hands of unexperienced psychiatrists and cnady dispensers. I know that it's painful to see them go, but these medicines are not the cause of their death, it's negligence. Yes, they're not perfect but nothing in this world is.
that was a rambling from a mad person. Ok, so ritalin and amphetamines kill sometimes, in overdoses and negligence.

Otherwise, backoff off people who are trying to incorporate into mainstream and feel better/realize their potential.

Two things:

1. why stimulants work for ADHD people:

ADHD is often associated with hyperactivity (mental and physical), and that leads many people to believe that the ADHD mind is actually running in overdrive on its own and needs to be slowed down.  This is actually partially true.  But fundamentally the ADHD mind is running far below optimal ranges.  The brainwaves of ADHD people in ADHD-affected areas of the brain are MUCH lower than they are in an average person, generally not high enough for the brain to actually function.  To compensate for this, the ADHD brain creates stimulation on its own to keep brain waves functioning at minimal levels needed to stay conscious and alert.  So an ADHD person may fidget and move about restlessly, and their mind may switch from topic to topic rapidly, but that is because their brain is introducing all of that mental and physical activity to stimulate itself in order to keep it from shutting off.  (this is why ADHD people when forced to sit still for any period of time will often fall asleep.  Their brain isn't able to keep itself going, so it has to shut down.  This is why also why ADHD people crave stimulation)  Stimulants like ritalin and adderall kick the brain into activity, allowing it to to keep brainwaves up to the minimum level necessary for consciousness.  When the ritalin or adderall is keeping the brain at normal levels of activity, it doesn't have to induce activity anymore, and the person experiences a dramatic calming effect.  That's not to say that stimulants can't also exacerbate existing anxiety issues (especially at first), but at the correct dosage after the body has had some time to adjust, it can produce the opposite effect.

 

2.  Wellbutrin is an SNRI, much like strattera, at high dosages.  SNRIs affect norepinephrine, which is implicated in the "executive" functioning of the brain.  (norepinephrine also carries some dopamine with it, so increasing one tends to increase the other slightly)  So wellbutrin is often prescribed in large doses to people with ADHD who cannot tolerate stimulants for some reason (and there are many) or who have existing or previous addiction problems.  And since it affects norepinephrine more than dopamine, wellbutrin is also an excellent anti-anxiety and anti-depression medication (norepinephrine has been shown to affect both mood and anxiety levels) without the addictive properties of adderall/ritalin/etc which despite their claims of working on both dopamine and norepinephrine, primarily affect dopamine.

 

Hope that helps some